Politudes provides information capsules, summaries and commentary on national and international developments in social policy, research on social well-being, and the effectiveness of social programs and systems

Category: Uncategorized

by Terrance Hunsley When the Trudeau government was elected, Jean Yves Duclos was appointed to cabinet with a mandate to implement increases to children’s benefits, and to consult with Canadians on further measures to reduce poverty and strengthen the middle class. The consultation has been underway for a year and a half, and Minister Duclos … More Time for National Consultation on Poverty Reduction to Bear Fruit

by Terrance Hunsley First in a Series It was a nice little quip for amateur philosophers. In Nixon’s 1972 visit to China, Premier Zhou Enlai was asked about the French Revolution and the development of democracy, and was reported to have replied “..it is too early to say.” Had that story not been debunked, those … More Futures Entwined: The Nation State and the Welfare State

Recent research by Naomi Lightman (1) of the University of Toronto paints a stark picture of the earnings divide between health and social care professionals, and non-professionals working in the same sector, in English-speaking (read “liberal economy”) countries. Lightman looked at the distribution of employment in health and social care in The USA, UK, Ireland, … More Insiders and Outsiders in Health and Social Care

The Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group of a global network of evaluation scientists (the Cochrane Collaboration) recently completed a systematic review of community and in clinic research to determine if giving cholesterol – lowering drugs (statins, specifically) to older people who were considered at risk of dementia but still with normal cognition, would prevent the … More Research Chronicles disappointments in Prevention of Dementia – Cochrane Collaboration

A recently completed Cochrane Collaboration systematic review led by the Schizophrenia Group, was unable to come up with enough high quality evidence to indicate whether professional advice provided to people with serious mental illness is effective in reducing smoking among that population. However they did point out that people with serious mental illness are about … More Cochrane Review of Smoking and Mental Illness: More Questions than Answers

By Allison Christians This is a reprint from Tax Analysts of a presentation by Prof. Allison Christians (McGill Law). Politudes published an earlier paper by Prof Christians entitled “Challenging Fiscal Havens and Tax Avoidance by Global Corporations” (see recent posts). This article shows a kind of flipside, the heavy hand of US tax law for … More Understanding the Accidental American: Tina’s Story